Roberto Osuna arrested and charged with assault

According to Toronto police, Toronto Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna was arrested on Tuesday morning and was charged with assault of a woman. He is scheduled to appear in court on June. 18.

There isn’t really much to say here. This is incredibly disappointing and it’s something we see way too often in sports. Those who we put on our pedestal as our heroes for being incredible at sports aren’t necessarily role models for the right reasons.

Over the past couple years we’ve been incredibly critical of the New York Yankees for acquiring and then re-acquiring Aroldis Chapman who went through a domestic assault case that involved him strangling his girlfriend and firing a gun in the air. We now have to hold one of our favourite players and our organization to the same standard.

I understand innocence until being proven guilty, but I think this is a fairly black and white issue. The Blue Jays, in good conscience, can’t continue to employ Osuna. More important than winning baseball games and having a lock-down closer is setting an example of what’s right and wrong. At the very least, Osuna should not be pitching with the Jays until this is dealt with in court.

In the past, like the case with Chapman, we’ve seen players suspended for these issues but continue to play. I hope that the Blue Jays are ready to set a better example.

Another wrinkle here is that the Jays are having an osuna t-shirt giveaway this week. I would certainly hope they cancel this promotion at this point.